On Tuesday, May 24, 2022, tragedy struck at Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. An 18-year-old stormed the school with an assault rifle, causing 21 deaths, 19 being children and 2 being teachers. The gunman was armed for around an hour before police arrived; he was later killed on the scene. The mass shooting in Uvalde is now considered to be one of the deadliest school shootings since Sandy Hook in Newtown, Connecticut. The community is now mourning the loss of innocent lives.
As the days go on, more horror stories have come out. The most tear-jerking from the surviving students and family members themselves. Among the victims, there were two teachers, Irma Garcia and Eva Mireles. Irma’s husband, Joe Garcia, later on, died from a heart attack after the news. Hearing about depressing current events can be heart-wrenching, but it's crucial during these times to be aware. Shootings have become more and more common; this can be
seen by simply looking up the word shooting and scrolling through the news tab on Google. While students shouldn’t have to live in constant fear, being aware of safety protocols can be useful. The desensitization to school shooting jokes and mockery is another problem as well. Identifying a school shooter can aid students and authorities. However, this is difficult when a student issues a threat and it's taken as a joke. This can be visible with the Robb Elementary school shooter. Mental health also plays a role in situations such as these. If you or anyone around you is dealing with these intrusive thoughts, please don't hesitate to contact 741741.
California’s Drought Currently California is going through a drought that ranges from moderate to extreme. A significant portion of the state is categorized as being under extreme drought. The extreme drought is caused by a multitude of factors; however, the factors that contributed the most to the ongoing drought are reduced rainfall in the months January, February, and March. Also, an increase in water usage for the month of March has contributed to these high .
drought rates. The increase in water usage is up nearly 20% when compared to March of 2020. These conditions are dire and in order to reduce the amount of water that those living in California are using there has been some new water restriction imposed. For example, outdoor watering will be restricted to two times a week, this will be based off street addresses and will be implemented at the start of next month.
Those with odd street numbers will be allowed to water Mondays and Fridays, even numbered streets will be allowed to Thursday and Sunday. There will be penalties for those that decide not to follow the water restrictions. First there will be a written warning, then $200, $400, and $600. If the violator still does not pay attention after that then they might put flow restrictions and also have the ability to completely stop their access to water. It is important for people to be mindful of the water they are using, not following these restrictions could result in more strict rules in the future. Janeli Cruz
Mandela Effect The mandela effect is defined as “an observed phenomenon in which a large segment of the population misremembers a significant event or shares a memory of an event that did not actually occur.” So far no one had been able to identify what causes the mandela effect; however, there are some speculations on how this situation occurs. An example of that would be false memories. False memories occur when one remembers distorted or incorrect information of an event. Below is an example of the mandela effect, which do you think is correct?
Some people may remember that the Fruit of the Loom logo had the cornucopia behind the fruit; however, the logo did not have the cornucopia behind the fruit. One other possible cause of the mandela is speculated to be due to confabulation. This occurs when there are false statements of occurrences, these false statements do not have any evidence or facts to back them up. Despite them having no evidence or facts those that have been told these things consider them to be factual.
Another likely cause for the phenomena of the mandela effect is priming. Priming occurs when a person’s response to a stimulus is influenced by direct exposure to another stimuli. Priming is also defined as suggestibility, it has a lot of influence on people’s reactions and memories. There are also numerous theories that the mandela effect occurs because of alternate realities or parallel universes. These are also some popular theories that state the mandela effect is the result of our reality interacting with other alternate realities and parallel universes. Janeli Cruz